Silver Lining
by rika08
Summary: Willow Argent was used to fending for herself. She wasn't someone to depend on others, but she was someone that everyone could depend on. So when Laura called her up asking for help in Beacon hills, Willow couldn't refuse her old High School friend. She just wasn't expecting the past to come flying back at her face.


Winter in the southern hemisphere was a blessing to those used to Northern winters. The rain, snow, and ice was nothing more than hot air, high temperatures, and constant basking on the beaches. What was better than spending the Christmas holiday on the beach sunbathing and surfing? In Willow's opinion, nothing. Not even Christmas with her family in California was worth leaving her paradise. in truth, it was only her sister that was worth seeing, which made the decision all the more painful for her to make and stay in Sydney.

Willow sighed with content and leaned back in her lounge. The burgundy fabric added incredible comfort to the lush padding of the chair. Her right arm hung over the edge of the chair, lying beside her face while her left lay on her stomach. Her fingers were splayed over her stomach, just above her black dream catcher navel ring. One of her many rebellious antics that pissed off her parents. Her left leg was bent at the knee while her right foot dangled over the edge of the lounge, just above the balcony floor. A black brace covered her slender knee. She basked in the cool of the shade while the sea breeze blew over the exposed skin of her body. Curls of platinum streaked brown hair hung over her bare shoulder and down her body. Even with her eyes shut, Willow knew the scene unfolding beneath her apartment balcony. The tourists and natives were enjoying the sun and the surf just across the street. The gulls were flying above, searching for their next meal. No, nothing was worth leaving this.

Her tranquility was interrupted as P!nk's _Raise Your Glass_ screamed from the table beside her. With a groan, Willow opened her eyes and picked up her phone. The vibrating smartphone flashed the name; Chris Argent, giving her the option to answer or decline. Anger bubbled inside her and she slammed her phone onto the table. She was in no mood to talk to her father. Not now, not then, and certainly not in the foreseeable future. If he wanted to talk, he could leave a message.

With her tranquility thoroughly disrupted and the possibility of recovering it abolished in one instant, Willow swung her legs over the side of the lounge and stood up. An aching pain shot through her right knee. She winced at the first step, but the pain slowly died to a tolerable throb as she continued to move. She tugged down the cheeks of the black and white cheeksters of her bikini before adjusting the softknee brace. Eight years and the damn fracture refused to heal correctly, despite the numerous surgeries, pins, screws, wires, and rehab sessions. Her body simply refused to heal. The doctors had started to theorize that the healing block was in her mind. That had been her last appointment three years ago. Her last, for a good reason. She walked around the back of her chair to the door. She pushed open the sliding door and stepped inside her AC apartment. Her phone continued to ring as she stepped from the sliding door into the kitchen.

Her apartment was a small, but very open apartment, overlooking the Sydney harbor. It provided her with a stunning and ever-changing view, along with jacked up prices. But it provided Willow with all the amenities a hired gun would need between jobs, so Willow didn't bother to complain. The east wall, facing the harbor and leading to her balcony, was made entirely of glass, giving ample lighting until the sun set. The living, kitchen, and entry way was one room. The kitchen was built into the wall on the west wall. The walls and cabinets were painted in a calming white shade. The only furniture in the living room was a beige sofa and coffee table. Both had come already furnished within the apartment. The remainder of furniture came in the form of boxes that Willow had brought when she moved in. Very few in fact, and mostly weapons purchased in the country. Willow walked across the wooden panel floor into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out one of last bottles of beer. She moved to the counter and hopped up. It was still before noon, and even though Willow had rules about drinking (especially when it came to her medication timeframe), a call from her family would change that rule, at least for the day. At any rate, drinking the beer while listening to her father's message was better than talking the man.

On cue, the answering machine, that Willow had set up to forward all her missed cell calls to, beeped. Willow leaned against the upper cupboards and waited for the torture to begin.

_"Salut,c'est Willow. Je ne suis ici, laissez votre message et le numéro et je vous rappellerai quand je peux. Merci."_

**BEEP.**

_"Willow, it's your father. I'm calling to check in since we missed you at Christmas this year...again."_

Willow rolled her eyes and grabbed the top of her beer, ready to twist off the cap. "Like you care."

_"I'm calling to let you know we've moved again."_

"Surprise, surprise." Willow muttered. "Bet Alli loved that news."

_"We moved into the house last week."_ her father continued. _"In Beacon Hills."_

The news hit Willow quickly. She dropped her beer, letting the glass and alcohol hit the floor in a wave. Her blood turned to ice as she sat on the counter. Beacon Hills? the little hell hole town that had screwed her over back in high school. It had taken everything she had worked for and literally left her broken. What the hell were they doing in Beacon Hills?

_"We have room for you, should you feel the need to visit. I'm sure Allison would love to see you. She could use some support. And since you've already attended the high school, I'm sure you have plenty of advice to help her through this move."_ Chris said. _"Your room is ready when you are Will. The number is still the same. Don't be afraid to call."_

And with that, her father hung up the phone and the call ended. Willow sat in silence for a few moments. Her chest heaved with her heavy breathing. Beacon Hills. Beacon fucking Hills. Willow snorted bitterly to herself and launched herself off the counter. Her feet hit the floor outside the splatter zone of her beer. Her knee stung in pain, but her anger dulled it from her notice. "Beacon Hills. Yeah, dad I'll hop on the next flight and visit you and mommy dearest in that little shit hole." She marched around the broken bottle on the ground, toward the built-in cabinet beside the fridge. She ripped open the door and pulled out the broom and dust pan. She swept up the glass, cleaned up the beer, and disposed of everything in the rubbish bin. "What the hell are you doing in Beacon Hills? You know there's no pack there." She paused for a moment. "Unless there's something else that caught your notice."

**_"So raise your glass if you are wrong in all the right ways!"_**

Willow jumped suddenly. She turned toward her phone still out on the balcony. She sighed heavily and shook her head. "You've got to be kidding me. One call is enough dad, two calls makes you desperate." She placed the broom and pan back into the cabinet and slammed it shut. She ripped open the fridge and grabbed another beer, popping the top before the machine beeped. "And we both know you're not a man who gives in to desperation." She hopped the counter again and extended her knee, trying to ease the pain that had started up during the phone call. Maybe it was time to see the doctor again? A new doctor. One that wasn't going to insinuate she was crazy to her face. When the brace is needed for sunbathing on the balcony, the pain isn't in her head.

_"Salut,c'est Willow. Je-"_

_"Argent answer your phone it's me."_ snapped a harsh and familiar voice.

Willow snapped her head up from her leg.

_"-message et le numéro et je vous rappellerai-"_

_"I know you're there Argent. Pick up!"_

Willow launched herself off the counter once more and raced to the balcony. she threw herself onto her lounge and grabbed her phone from the table. She quickly activated her phone, cutting off the machine. "Hale?"

The other end was silent, but Willow knew better than believe they had hung up.

Willow sat up in the lounge. "Laura Hale, you answer me damnit!"

_"Relax, Argent, I'm still here."_ Laura replied quietly.

"Shit." Willow took a deep breath. It had been years since she's last talked to Laura Hale. Hell, it had been six years since she'd last **seen** Laura. Not since she left Beacon Hills after her accident. Willow leaned back in her lounge and brought her legs up in front of her. The background noises of the harbor and tourists were muted out by silence through the line. Willow cleared her throat. "You sounded urgent."

_"Yeah."_ Laura answered. _"Listen, I know we haven't talked in a while. But um...i need your help."_

Willow fronted. "My help?"

_"I'm back in Beacon Hills."_ Laura said.

Willow's eyes grew wide. "You're where?"

_"I'm back in town."_

"What in the hell are you-"

_"I got a new lead on the fire."_

Willow froze hearing Laura's words. "Laura, I swear to god if you're shitting me I'll-"

_"Yeah I know."_ Laura interrupted. _"I know what a hunter is capable of."i_

"That's not what I-"

_"That isn't why I called."_ Laura stated.

"Then why did you call?" Willow asked. She sat up on the lounge.

_"While I was following my lead, I found something else."_ Laura explained. _"Something that I don't like."_

Willow frowned. Laura wasn't one to back down from anything. "What was it?"

_"A spiral. Carved into the body of a dead dear."_ she answered.

Willow sighed heavily and leaned back in the lounge. "You're sure?"

"Positive. The body was in the paper listed as a prank."

"Have there been any other occurrences, any killings, mauling's?" Willow asked.

_"No, and that's what worries me." _Laura explained. _"I need backup on this."_

"What's Derek think about it?" Willow asked. She hoped her voice didn't betray her through the phone, but knowing the wolf senses, Laura could hear the shift in her heartbeat.

_"Derek's back in New York." _Laura explained quickly.

"He didn't come with you?"

_"He doesn't even know why I'm back here."_ Laura replied_. "I can't bring him in on this. Do you have any idea what happened to him after the fire? It's like it burned him out. He's...he's taken the fire hardest out of the two of us. He doesn't talk about it, but the way he acts whenever the day comes along it's like...it's like he knows something about that eating away at him. Maybe if I put an end to this, he can move on."_

Willow shook her head. "Look, I appreciate the call. I'm honored to know that a Hale wolf would admit they need my hunting skills, but going back to Beacon Hills isn't on my bucket list."

_"Look, I get that shit went down back in high school, okay? I was there." _Laura snapped_. "But I need your fucking help Willow. I need someone that I trust with me. Cause if I'm right about this wolf, people are going to start dying, and fast. Can you live with that?"_

Willow was silent. She grimaced at Laura's words. The bitch always knew how to play with her head. She hated the town, hated some of the people, but if Laura was right; **if** there was a werewolf looking for revenge, then people were going to die. And that was something Willow could do without on her conscience, especially when she had the chance to stop it. She stood up from the lounge and walked back inside. She slid the door behind her and walked to the sofa. "Alright. I'm in. But I have terms."

_"Money won't be a problem." _Laura replied.

"Screw the money." Willow snapped. "If I'm in i want absolute honesty, no hiding things we think are unrelated, no secrets, nothing that could get us both killed."

"Alright."

"I want a copy of that picture of the deer. I know this is your area of expertise, but I want to know just what I'm signing up for." Willow grabbed her laptop from the sofa and opened it up. She swiped her finger over the touch pad, waking the machine.

_"Agreed." _Laura answered._ "Anything else?"_

"Used of live firepower and wolf's bane." She opened the internet and searched through airline sites.

_"Don't hit me with it and I don't have a problem."_ Laura stated.

"And Derek never knows I was in the states with you." Willow finished.

The line was silent. Willow focused on the flight times and arrival time listings on the site and not on Laura's nervous silence. Willow had nothing against Derek, quiet the opposite as cliché as it is, but Derek hadn't been too fond of her since he'd learned what she was. Especially when he learned that Laura had known, and Willow had known about them. That had been a very brutal fight, and Willow couldn't remember half of it due to her hospital admittance. If he knew that Laura had worked with Willow on something that **he** hadn't been told about, shit would hit the fan and then some.

_"Deal."_ Laura finally said, breaking Willow from the reverie.

Willow finalized her flight plan. "Okay, my flight gets in tomorrow at eleven oh five in San Francisco. I'll stop by one of my storage houses and pick up some gear. Add another two hours drive time and I should be in town by one thirty, two at the latest."

"Jet lag is gonna be murder."

"Don't remind me." Willow muttered, closing her laptop. She rose from the sofa and headed toward her bedroom. "Where do you want to meet at?"

"The house."

Willow paused and set her laptop on her bed. "It's still there?"

_"Yeah. The county took possession after the fire, but it's still standing." _Laura explained. _"We should be able to work without people getting suspicious."_

"On that note, watch your back until I get there." Willow warned. She walked to the dresser and pulled out the first thing she could.

_"Aw, your worry for an old friend is so touching."_ Laura joked.

"I'm serious, Laura. My parents are in town now." Willow explained.

_"Shit."_ Laura muttered. _"This just gets better and better."_

"No kidding." Willow replied. "Look, I'm gonna pack and head to the airport, send me everything you have and I'll call you once I land."

_"you got it." _Laura said. _"And Willow, thanks for letting me count on you."_

Before Willow could reply the call ended. She looked at her phone for a moment, unsure how she could process Laura's last sentence. Willow shook her head, she'd deal with that when she saw Laura. Right now, she had less than thirty minutes to get a bag packed and get her ass to the airport.

Willow dropped her phone beside her laptop and slid the shirt over her bikini. She'd have plenty of time to fully change at the airport. She grabbed a dirty pair of jeans that were ripped beyond public wearing, but that didn't stop her. She made a mental note to change them before stepped out of the airport. Summer and winter seasonal change was going to be murder on her body. Willow walked to the closet and dragged out her carry-on bag. After growing up with parents that moved twice a year, at minimum, Willow learned to never unpack and settle anywhere. She slid her phone into her pocket and secured her laptop into her bag before stepped out into the living room. She fished out a pile of papers from one of her opened boxes, her letters lease, forwarding address, and request of her belongings were to be placed on the front desk as she left. Her weapons would be shipped back to the states, but it would take longer than she was comfortable with; hence the storage cells in the states. Willow grabbed her wallet and keys from the counter and stepped out of her Sydney apartment. She locked the door behind her and headed toward the elevator, wondering if she had done the right thing in listening to Laura. She was actually doing this. She was going back to Beacon Hills. Laura owed her big time for this.

* * *

><p>okay so I've decided to jump onboard the OC series train. typical, add a new character to the main cast. incase anyone had trouble figuring out which family; Argent. and as you can tell, there's some family issue going on. I'll get to that eventually. hope you guys don't mind going through episode by episode. don't worry, I'll keep going with my other TW story. I won't leave you hanging.<p> 


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